The Knicks won’t fully be able to measure themselves against the Celtics until they stand across from them — and at full strength — in the playoffs.
And even then it might not be enough.
The Knicks hung with the team with the best record in the NBA until early in the second half in a nationally televised showcase matchup Saturday night, but the Celtics outclassed Tom Thibodeau’s team in the third and fourth quarters for a disappointing 116-102 loss at the Garden.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks (34-23) with 34 points, while Josh Hart contributed 16 with eight rebounds. But Donte DiVincenzon, Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks combined to miss 21 of 30 shots for the Knicks, who had halted a four-game long streak Thursday night with a road win over the Sixers. .
Jaylen Brown netted a team-high 30 points, former Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis had 22 and Jayson Tatum added 19 for the Celtics.
As Thibodeau noted earlier Saturday, the Knicks have been playing for several weeks without “our starting front line” of center Mitchell Robinson and forwards Julius Randle and OG Anunoby, all of whom are attempting to make it back to the lineup before the regular season ends.
The Knicks previously had lost to Boston three times in their first 21 games this season, albeit before adding OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa in a late-December trade with the Raptors and then Bogdanovic and Burks in a separate deadline deal earlier this month with the Pistons.
With their eighth straight victory, the Celtics’ 45-12 record is easily tops in the NBA, and they have moved 8.0 games clear of the second-place Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
“Obviously when you study it, their record tells you how good they are,” Thibodeau said before the game.
“It’s a team that doesn’t have many holes.”
Brunson nailed his first two 3-point attempts and recorded nine of his 13 first-quarter points over the first four minutes, as the Knicks grabbed a quick 14-10 lead.
But Brown also sank two early buckets from long range, and he finished with 10 in the period — of his 20 in the first half — as the Celtics built a 30-26 advantage through one.
Bogdanovic’s turnover resulted in a breakaway layup by Payton Pritchard for an eight-point game barely two minutes into the second.
Bogdanovic had connected on all six 3-point attempts in a 22-point effort in Thursday’s road win over the Sixers, and he drained a triple shortly after his turnover to help the Knicks trim the deficit to three.
Miles McBride, who had been listed as questionable for the game with an illness, managed nine points in the quarter, but Brown fed Porzingis inside and the former Knick converted a traditional three-point play to boost the Boston cushion to 10.
The MSG crowd delighted in Porzingis drawing a technical foul for arguing a non-call moments later, however, and Brunson scored the next six for 19 in the half to help the Knicks shave the deficit to 62-58 by halftime.
Hart contributed a key offensive rebound/bucket and a coast-to-coast drive during that late sequence.
Hart also buried a 3-pointer on the Knicks’ opening possession of the third quarter, before Brunon’s converted three-point play evened the score at 64 barely one minute after intermission.
Still, triples by Derrick White, Porzingis, Tatum and Brown over barely two minutes of elapsed game time replenished the Celtics’ double-digit lead at 76-66.
Holiday then extended it to 13 with Boston’s 12th make out of their first 21 attempts (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
Yet another trey from Tatum capped a 33-13 extended run that widened the Knicks’ hole to 20 points with under two minutes remaining in the period.
Two late free throws by Brunson closed the gap to 13 entering the fourth, however, and a mid-range jumper by Bogdanovic drew the Knicks within nine three minutes into the fourth.
But three straight offensive rebounds by Al Horford ignited a game-sealing 8-0 surge by the Celtics for a 107-90 game with under seven minutes to go.